When GMU double alumna Kirsten Clodfelter moved to Indiana, she wasn’t expecting to write a collection of short stories about the Middle East. “It just kind of appeared one day,” Kirsten said during a phone interview.
While Kirsten may have been gifted with a flash of inspiration, an interesting web of influences began to emerge in her conversations. “I felt like—our country has been at war since 9/11—and it has affected me in almost no way,” Kirsten said, adding that she found this deeply disturbing. “I felt obligated to make it affect me in a way that was meaningful.” Keep Reading…
This essay appears in George Mason University’s Department of English Spring 2014 newsletter. I wrote the article after conducting an interview with alumna Kirsten Clodfelter. Visit the GMU website to read the original publication.
